Suikoden 3 original on PAL w/ swapmagic

Hi, I'm a newbie here and a newbie to the world of imports and backups in general.
I have looked over the forums for threads that might help me but found nothing, perhaps because I was too dumb to find something or maybe there is genuinely nothing out there.

I'm aware of suikoden 3 being difficult to boot but I am having real problems and could use some clear simple advice.
I have:
A version 1-3 PS2 (can't remember which actually, whoops, but it was the first dispatch of UK PS2's so it must be an early version)
Swap magic cd 3.0
Swap magic dvd 2.0
Breaker Pro
Slide card tool
(and I will be trying sm3dvd later)

When I try to boot suikoden 3 straight away with swap dvd the background is blue meaning that my ps2 needs some sort of chip according to the troubleshooting.
So, I downloaded the swapmagicfix cdloader and tried that... Unfortunately in the OPTiONS menu the only options were "menu 1" through to "menu 9" or something rather than beta 1/2/3/4 blah blah. Unsurprisingly using the CD loader suikoden 3 still doesn't boot.

I'm aware I might need to do something about the TOC refresh but I really dont know what (yes I own vice city, so I do have a high TOC disc).

If someone could please help me out it will save me a serious migraine since I am meant to be studying for exams rather than trying to get import games working.

did you try this way
1. boot your swapmagic cd and swap for cd loader by flip/slide press x
2.cd loader boots, press eject and swap for swapmagic dvd, press eject to send back in
3.wait for it to say ps2 dvd in lower left of tv screen, when that appears, press x
4. wait for swap by ea method prompt at this point swap for backup by flip/slide and press x
5. your import should now boot

Yeah, thats what I did, but it just sits on a black screen indefinately. The screen briefly flashes green then just stays black, I've tried waiting 5 minutes for it to do something but nothing happens.

if that didn't work then you could try using your vice city game as a toc refresh disc instead of the swapmagicdvd disc in step 2 or you could try using cd loader v7all and using the beta 3 option that it has in the sub menu to see if that helps

I bought my swap magic discs from http://ijustgotbanned.com and they boot up all my dvd and cd based backup games.I am using a brand new satin siver ps2 PAL model.I flogged my old console because it would not read the dvd swap magic disc every time.I reckon the age or condition of your laser has a lot to do with it.If your going to experiment with different burning tools and a range of blank media,then you are better investing in a good console first.The other option is to buy a pre chipped console.Go to http://iwentbyebye.com and have a look at theirs.